Postings by Angel Buddha's Family

Happily, Red's managed to see his 10th birthday. Sadly, my father passed on Red's 10th birthday. So far, Red's still managing to live a decent quality of life despite the fact the cancer is growing. Maybe this is due to all the POTP, positive thoughts, wishes, prayers, and other positive energy being sent his way. Thank you all, please continue to keep Red in your positive thoughts, positive energies, and prayers!

A humane live trap, if used with empathy for the cat, is not inhumane. In this neighborhood, there are a number of intact cats running loose that nobody claims. I use live traps to catch and alter feral-stray cats in my neighborhood. I feed neighborhood cats and they are used to coming onto my porch to eat. When I need to trap one, I bait the trap with canned food and set it at a time when that particular cat is likely to be coming to eat. As soon as I hear the trap snap, I go out there and move the cat in the trap to an enclosed porch or else I move the cat to an indoor crate or cage, depending on whether the cat is feral or not and on whether I'm going to take the cat to be altered right away. If I leave the cat in the trap, I give the cat food, water, and a small litter pan and then I cover the trap with a blanket or towels so the cat has an enclosed dark place to feel safe in. BTW when the trap is set, if I can't hear it snap then I check it every hour or so.

You might want to ask the vet about his behavior and have him checked over to make sure there isn't any medical issue causing or contributing to it. Do you notice anything or any situation in particular that occurs right before he goes into his "roid rage" that might be a triggering factor? It may be that he hears or scents things out of your sensory range, things such as an approaching thunderstorm or cats fighting outside. It's possible that an anti-anxiety medication might help him. Such behaviors are usually fear motivated. I have one cat here who tries to go after two other cats that he's actually afraid of. Its like he goes after them first to bluff them so they won't think of going after him. However if one of them approaches him first, he turns and runs. This cat has been here since mid-October and as time has passed, he's gained confidence and his behavior has been gradually improving.

I always start out a new cat or kitten in an extra large plastic airline dog crate. That way the newcomer is safe. The newcomer can hide at the back of the crate if he/she is insecure or come to the front of the crate to interact with my other cats safely through the bars of the crate door. I will also let the newcomer have some time loose in one room with the door closed while the newcomer is in there. This allows the newcomer to smell the other cats and after the newcomer is returned to the crate, the other cats can smell the newcomer's scent in the room. After sosme time of this, if everything seems harmonious, I allow the newcomer loose in the room with a couple of my other cats who I know will be social and friendly to the newcomer. If all goes well there, I let the newcomer loose in the house.

If you get a kitten, I would recommend you try to pick a confident outgoing kitten.

You also might try the Feliway diffuser. It emits a cat calming pheromone. The best price I've personally found for it is at the Drs. Foster & Smith website. I've found the Feliway diffuser does help when I'm integrating a newcomer into my cat family.

What I did when Feraldine's kittens were about 4 weeks old was to start giving Feraldine and the kittens a couple of cans of canned food once a day (in addition to making sure Feraldine always has dry food and water available.) The biggest kitten, the tortie point, was first to start eating canned food in addition to nursing. The smallest kitten, the black female, didn't start eating canned food until after she was 6 weeks old. Once the kittens were eating canned food well, I started feeding Feraldine and the kittens canned food twice a day. You can read more of my experiences with Feraldine and her kittens in her diary.

As long as you have the cat neutered before he becomes sexually mature, there should be no problems. There's really not much difference between the males and females in personality or behavior if they are spayed and neutered. Incidentally although most intact males spray, some don't and some intact females spray especially when they are in heat! Although it's uncommon, even altered cats may spray if they are in a situation where they feel very insecure.

Here's an article I wrote on how to introduce a cat to a multiple cat household. The method will work for your situation as well.

How to introduce new cat to multiple cat household

It usually takes two weeks at least for a cat to adjust to a new home and for the resident cats in that home to accept the new cat. At first keep the cat in only one room or even better, an extra large plastic airline dog crate with its litter, food, water, a toy or two, and something to sleep on. With the crate method, the cat is safe but can see and interact with the resident cat through the door of the crate. If you use the crate method, let the cat out for awhile in one room by itself to exercise and explore. After the cat has been returned to the crate, let your resident cat(s) back into the room where the cat was so they can sniff around and get used to the cat's scent and presence. If you're using the separate room method, move the cat to a different room for awhile and let the resident cat come into the room where the cat previously was and let the cat sniff around. After awhile remove the resident cats and return the cat to the first room. I personally prefer the crate method because it allows for safe socialization between the resident cats and the cat 24/7. If the cat doesn't want to interact or if she's scared, she can hide in the back of the crate and feel safe.

After your new cat shows some confidence (comes to the front of the crate and shows interest in the world beyond the crate door) clip all cats claws and then let the cats meet each other while you supervise. Most likely there will be some hissing on both sides as each will be a bit afraid of the other. Generally then the cats will stay out of each others way at first, then gradually they form a truce or an understanding among them.

I wonder if your cat has anxiety issues and if putting her on a medication such as Prozac might help her. It's also possible that she has hypersensitivity or feline hyperesthesia issues in addition to anxiety issues, and that she easily becomes overstimulated. It's also possible that a previous owner encouraged your cat to scratch and bite by playing roughly with her. I recently adopted a cat who when I first got him, tended to grab me with his claws and give fairly hard although inhibited bites. I started stroking the top of his head only and if he started to swat or bite, I would hiss at him and then ignore him for awhile. His behavior has become much better since I started doing that.

I've had quite a bit of success retraining a cat to use the litter pan by using the below method.

I get an extra large (Varikennel size 500 or 700) plastic airline dog crate. I put the cat's food, water, and a litter pan (I use cheap plastic dishpans for crate litterpans, they are a good size for a cage litter pan. I then put the cat in the crate. I scoop the poop out of the litter pan daily and change it as needed. I find that a cat who housesoils usually will use the litter pan when crated. After the cat has been crated a month, IF the cat has been clean in the crate, I release the cat back into the house. If the cat housesoils again after being released into the house, I then crate the cat again for 2 to 3 months. If the cat is clean in the crate during that time, I again release the cat into the house. So far in all my years of having cats, most of the cats who housesoiled were retrained successfully. The few who weren't retrained successfully were cats who felt secure in a crate or a cat cage, but who were fearful and nervous loose in the house.

Another thing you might try is asking the vet about putting your cat with the problems on an anti-anxiety medication such as Prozac and see if this helps.

Another thing you can do is to get childproof locks for the kitchen cabinets and drawers so that the cat cannot open them! I had to do this since certain cats of mine, Moose especially, likes to get into kitchen cabinets and drawers to explore them, knock things out of them, or to sleep in them!